Whybray provides a straightforward introduction to the contents and themes of the first five books of the Bible. Designed as an entry-level textbook for colleges and seminaries, this volume makes sense of the current muddle in Pentateuchal studies and introduces students to the contributions of earlier scholars in the field. Whybray stresses the meaning of the Pentateuch in its canonical form while remaining sensitive to its literary merit, theological import, and compelling power.

This is not a sociological study in the technical sense. Its aim is simply to review the internal evidence of a single Old Testament book about attitudes towards what is now universally recognized as one of the most serious problems facing the world today: the unequal distribution of this world's goods. The study shows that there are some fundamental assumptions common to all sections of Proverbs: that wealth, unless acquired by dishonest or unscrupulous means, is a good rather than an evil, and that poverty as a feature of society is an evil which may to some extent be alleviated in...

Who compiled the varied material in the book of Proverbs, and why? Is there any significance in the order in which it has been arranged? These and similar questions about the book have often been discussed in the past, but no agreed conclusions reached. In this study the question of the purpose behind the composition of the book is raised anew. Whybray first discusses each section of Proverbs separately and then enquires into the significance, if any, of the shape of the book as a whole in its final form. Among the chief features of this study are an analysis of redactional layers in chapters...